State board de-certifies mayoral primary

The day after former Mayor Sheila Dixon announced she wouldn’t seek a recount in Baltimore’s Democratic mayoral primary, the state Board of Elections de-certified those results and began a review.

Linda Lamone, the elections board administrator, said city officials found 80 provisional ballots they had failed to count after they had certified the results. In addition state officials found discrepancies greater than allowed between the number of voters who checked into polling places and those who cast ballots.

Lamone said none of that is uncommon, but she asked the city election board to rescind its certification to give her team time to investigate and to allow candidates who might want a recount more time to ask for one.

The deadline to ask for a recount was 5 p.m. Thursday based on the date the city elections board certified the results, she said. But by rescinding that certification, "we stop the clock from running until they re-certify next week."

Dixon supporters have been questioning the results--State Senator Catherine Pugh won by about 2,500 votes—since election night.

Dixon said in a statement she was "pleased that there will be additional investigation" into the election.

Dara Lindenbaum, the Pugh campaign’s lawyer, said the probe will give the public greater confidence in the results.